Garage door handle



United States Patent 6) 3,499,182 GARAGE DOOR HANDLE Troy L. Roquemore, 12680 Fieldstone Circle, Riverside, Calif. 92503 Filed Nov. 9, 1967, Ser. No. 681,838 Int. Cl. Eb 1/00 U.S. Cl. 16112 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE An integral, one-piece, plastic handle for an overhead garage door. The handle is swivelly connected to the interior of the lower part of the garage door, so it will hang freely pendant when the door is in a substantially horizontal open position. A lower bar portion terminating in a hand grip, is integrally hinged to an upper bar portion swivelly connected to the door, so that by pulling down on the hand grip, and manipulating the lower bar portion relative to the upper bar portion, the acceleration or retardation of the descent of the door can be controlled. The hand grip and upper and lower bar portions include flats for contact with the hands of the operator, to prevent slippage of the handle when manipulated.

This invention relates to a handle construction, and more particularly, a handle for raising and lowering an overhead garage door.

It is an object of this invention to provide a handle construction of the character indicated, which facilitates pulling garage doors down to a closed position and raising them to an open position.

A further object of this invention is to provide a handle construction of the character indicated, which can be manipulated to accelerate and retard the descent and ascent of a garage door, and hence, produce controlled closing and opening of the door.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a handle construction of the character indicated, which includes surfaces facilitating the grasping of the handle by the operator.

Another object of this invention is to provide a handle construction of the character indicated which is easily and inexpensively fabricated, and is substantially of a one-piece, integral construction, thus requiring a minimum of maintenance and repair.

Further objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the following description and claims, and from the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of the improved handle construction of the present invention, and further illustrating the manner of securing it to a garage door;

FIGURE 2 is a front view in elevation of the handle shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a side view in elevation of handle shown in FIGURE 2, as seen from the right hand side of FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side view in elevation of a portion of the handle, as seen along the plane indicated by line 44 of FIGURE 2;

FIGURE 5 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by line 5-5 of FIGURE 2; and

FIGURE 6 is a cross-sectional view taken substantially along the plane indicated by line 66 of FIGURE 2.

Referring now to the drawing in detail, wherein like numerals indicate like elements throughout the several views, the garage door handle of the present invention is generally designated by the numeral 10. Handle 10 is attached to the inside of an overhead garage door 12 of the rigid, pivotably supported type or of the folding type.

The handle 10 is preferably installed at the center of garage door 12, for better balanced operation and control of the door. The handle 10 is substantially a onepiece, integral construction, formed from a machinable plastic, and comprises a vertically elongated upper bar portion 14, and a vertically elongated lower bar portion 16, pivotably connected to the upper bar portion 14 at its upper end, and terminating in an integral hand grip 18 extending laterally therefrom, at its lower end.

Upper and lower bar portions 14 and 16 comprise four perpendicular ribs or flats 20, 22, 24, and 26, spaced at intervals about the circumference of the bars. To define upper and lower bar portions 14 and 16, and to provide a line of flexure so that lower bar portion 16 can pivot relative to upper bar portion 14, opposing ribs 20 and 24 are cut at angle along spaced lines 28 and 30, and ribs 22 and 26 are cut along a vertical line 29, to

define a flat or hinge 32. The depth of the cuts will determine the flexibility of the hinge.

Horizontal cross bar hand grip 18 includes a hemispherical upper portion 34, integrally connected to the lower bar portion 16 at its upper end, and a centrally located rib or flat 36, at its lower end. Plastic or rubber end caps 38 and 40 are slid over the opposite lateral ends of hemispherical portion 34 and flat 36.

Ribs 20 and 24 on the upper end of upper bar portion 14 project beyond the ends of ribs 22 and 26 and define a planar end 42. End 42 includes a centrally located aperture 44,, receiving a screw-eye 46, occupying the same plane as hinge 32.

In use and operation, screw-eye 46 swivelly suspends handle 10 on the lower portion of garage door 12, as shown in FIGURE 1. With garage door 12 in a substantially horizontal overhead position, the handle 10 will be in a freely pendant position and the operator can grasp hand grip 18, so as to pivot the door downwardly towards its vertical closed position. Rib or flat 36 is positioned in the palm of the hand, and prevents the hand from slipping around the grip.

As the door is thus started towards its closed position, its descent can be controlled by holding onto the hand grip 18 and manipulating the handle 10, so as to accelerate or retard the descent, according to requirements, and produce controlled closing of the door. This is accomplished by pivoting lower bar portion 16 relative to upper bar portion 14 about hinge 32 to vary the moment arm, or perpendicular distance of hand grip 18 from door 12, thereby varying the torque or pulling force on the door. Upper bar portion 14 is also pivotable about screw-eye 46 to aid in its manipulation.

As the door is lowered, and handle 10 is lowered with it, it may be more convenient to grip lower bar portion 16 than hand grip 18. Thus, ribs 20, 22, 24 and 26 not only strengthen the handle 10, but provide convenient non-slipping gripping surfaces for the hand.

To open the door from a closed position, the above procedure need only be reversed, by pulling upwardly on the hand grip. Caps 38 and 40 also prevent marring of the roofs or tops of vehicles entering or leaving the garage, when door 12 is in open position. The articulation of the lower bar portion 16 to the upper bar portion 14, and the articulation of the upper bar portion 14 to the door 12, permits handle 10 to hang from the door, in the open position of the door, so that the handle 10, if contacted by the top of an unusually tall vehicle, will swing harmlessly out of the Way.

While a specific embodiment of my invention has been disclosed in the foregoing description, it will be understood that various modifications within the spirit of the invention may occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, it is intended that no limitations be placed on the invention except as defined by the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A handle construction comprising an integral, vertically elongated, one-piece upper bar portion, lower bar portion, and hinge pivotally connecting the lower end of said upper bar portion to the upper end of said lower bar portion, said upper and lower bar portions including a plurality of perpendicular intersecting ribs, and a hand grip connected to the lower end of said lower bar portion and extending laterally thereof.

2. A handle construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein said upper and lower bar portions include four perpendicular ribs spaced at 90 intervals about their circumferences.

3. A handle construction in accordance with claim 2 wherein said upper and lower :bar port-ions and hinge are formed from a single piece of flexible plastic material.

4. A handle construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein an opposed pair of said ribs are cut away to define a flat providing a line of fiexure to serve as the hinge between said upper and lower bar portions.

5. A handle construction in accordance with claim 4 wherein said pair of cut ribs are longer than the remaining pair and define together at the upper end of said upper bar portion an end of said handle, and aperture means in said handle end having an axis parallel to the plane of said fiat.

6. A handle construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein said hand grip is integral with the lower end of said lower bar portion.

7. A handle construction in accordance with claim 6 wherein said hand grip includes a hemispherical portion attached to the lower end of said lower bar portion, and a substantially planar coextensive rib attached to said hemispherical portion.

8. A handle construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein said upper and lower bar portions and hinge are formed from a single piece of plastic.

9. A handle construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein the upper end of said upper bar portion includes means for pivotally connecting said upper bar portion to a door.

10. A handle construction in accordance with claim 1 wherein the upper end of said upper bar portion includes means for pivotally connecting said upper bar portion to a door.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,082,472 3/1963 Roquemore 16ll2 BOBBY R. GAY, Primary Examiner DORIS L. TROUTMAN, Assistant Examiner 

